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Tennessee PoliticsMon, 07 Apr 2014 14:51:50 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Haslam talks health care exchange decision on Fox Newshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/haslam-talks-health-care-exchange-decision-on-fox-news/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/haslam-talks-health-care-exchange-decision-on-fox-news/#commentsTue, 11 Dec 2012 18:01:09 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18586Gov. Bill Haslam took to Fox News shortly before lunch to talk about health care exchanges, and despite a teaser’s promise that he would share his idea for an alternative, the Tennessee governor did not deviate substantively from his remarks on Monday.

“The decision on the exchange really wasn’t going to make a big difference there one way or the other,” he said in response to a question about why he gave up the option of state control. “My fear once we got into it was that the state-based exchange didn’t give us a lot more flexibility or latitude … that letting them run it would.”

Haslam restated his general misgivings about the Affordable Care Act and lamented that neither the November election nor the Supreme Court derailed the law. But he framed his decision as good management.

“Our job now is to implement it,” he said. “We have to deal with the reality. There are going to be exchanges set up in every state. The question is whether we’re going to run them or have the federal government run them.”

Former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson was back on the political stage in Tennessee recently, repping his fellow attorneys in their battle against Gov. Bill Haslam’s tort reform bill.

He is back on the small screen tonight, playing – what else – a smooth-talking attorney/politician/actor on the latest episode of the CBS hit show “The Good Wife.”

With that character description, it’s no surprise that the show’s producers contacted Thompson. Who better to play an actor/politician/lawyer than a real actor/politician/lawyer? But despite the former “Law & Order” star’s expertise in all three careers, he described the gig to POLITICO as different from any other acting role he’s had:

“I am the lawyer for [Venezuelan president] Hugo Chavez. One of the issues in play is the nationalization of an oil facility. And it’s a little different than anything I have done because it’s very much tongue in cheek and a little over the top.”

The former senator described his limelight-loving character as “kind of a bad guy” who is trying to “take over the case from our heroes” and starts a conflict with the show’s regulars.

The Politico post has a clip of Thompson’s first scene. You can also find it here at Fox or here at Thompson registration-required website, FredThompsonsAmerica.com.

The story says he worked on some shoots for the episode until 2:30 am. Some political watchers might wonder what would have happened if he had worked that hard on his 2010 presidential bid….

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2011/fred-thompson-in-the-good-wife-tonight/feed/6The “Fox Primary”http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2010/the-fox-primary/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2010/the-fox-primary/#commentsMon, 27 Sep 2010 20:50:49 +0000Clint Brewerhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=12087Here is a really short but insightful article from Politico about what their headline calls the “Fox Primary.”

Four of the five main conservatives not currently in elected office but flirting with running for president in 2012 all are on contract with Fox News; former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

The article discusses how Fox is contractually withholding access to these would-be presidential candidates from other networks.

From the story:

As Fox’s popularity grows among conservatives, the presence of four potentially serious Republican candidates as paid contributors is beginning to frustrate competitors of the network, figures within its own news division and rivals of what some GOP insiders have begun calling “the Fox candidates.”

With the exception of Mitt Romney, Fox now has deals with every major potential Republican presidential candidate not currently in elected office. ….

The matter is of no small consequence, since it’s uncertain how other news organizations can cover the early stages of the presidential race when some of the main GOP contenders are contractually forbidden to appear on any TV network besides Fox.

C-SPAN Political Editor Steve Scully said that when C-SPAN tried to have Palin on for an interview, he was told he had to first get Fox’s permission — which the network, citing her contract, ultimately denied. Producers at NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC all report similar experiences.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2010/the-fox-primary/feed/0Obama says he’s “not losing sleep” over Fox News spathttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2009/obama-says-hes-not-losing-sleep-over-fox-news-spat/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2009/obama-says-hes-not-losing-sleep-over-fox-news-spat/#commentsThu, 22 Oct 2009 17:46:50 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2009/obama-says-hes-not-losing-sleep-over-fox-news-spat/Not long after our own Sen. Lamar Alexander raised the specter of an “enemies list,” President Barack Obama went to the airwaves to proclaim that his conscience is clear when it comes to giving Fox News the cold shoulder.

“What our advisers simply said is — is that — we are going to take media as it comes,” Obama told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie. “And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that’s one thing. And if it’s operating … as a news outlet, then that’s another.

“But it’s not somethin’ I’m losing a lot of sleep over.”

Obama went on to say that the attention given the matter reflects the media’s interest in an issue involving themselves, not any real concerns of the American people.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the interview is getting big play over at Fox News. Their write-up.

The strength, the security of this nation should be a priority. And this is a time that our president can step forward, can take the leadership role, and say, let’s bolster those systems. Let’s deploy those systems and send that message to North Korea that, regardless of what kind of tests they are carrying out, we are going to be prepared to preempt them.